1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of animal husbandry and in particular, relates to a moveable cart suitable for use in a hog rearing operation and to improvements in such operations and methods associated therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In hog rearing operations, it has become essential to maximize the reproductive capacity of the sows. Originally, many hog raising operations simply relied on letting nature take its course with impregnation of the sow by the male hog. However, with larger operations, it became necessary to increase the reliability and accordingly, artificial insemination has been widely practiced.
In order for artificial insemination to work efficiently and economically, it is necessary to administer the semen at the time when estrus is occurring. Typically, semen is administered between 1 and 4 times during estrus in predetermined spaced apart time intervals.
It has been proposed in the art to use instrumentation to attempt to determine estrus. Typically, there have been proposed various types of temperature sensors and probes insertable into the vaginal canal for detecting either an increase in temperature or increase in current flow through the mucous. Although these methods do work, they are both time and labour intensive and increase the risk of mortality through contamination, infection, etc.
More traditionally, the technique employed on the modern day farm is to circulate a male hog down a row of cages containing the sows.
Despite all the advances in the art, typically the impregnation success ratio (i.e. the number of sows successfully impregnated) is in the area of between 75% to 85%. While these rates represent a vast improvement over older success rates, it is obviously desirable to further increase the rate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the artificial insemination of sows.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cart which may be used in a hog rearing operation to assist in determining estrus and improving the success rate of artificial insemination.
In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a cart for the transportation of animals, the animals being selected from the group consisting of porcine, bovine, equine, canine, feline, and ungulates.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cart suitable for animal transportation, the cart comprising a base, the base having wheels mounted thereon, at least one wall extending upwardly from the base, means associated with the at least one wall for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart at least one opening in the at least one wall sized to permit a snout of a hog to at least partially extend therethrough, and hog positioning means within the cart to prevent a hog from lying down in the cart.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cart suitable for animal transportation, the cart comprising at least two sections, a first end cart section and a second end cart section, the first cart end section including a first base section, a first cart section wall extending upwardly from the first base section to define a first enclosure having an open end, the second end cart section having a second base section, a second cart section wall extending upwardly from the second base section to define a second enclosure having one open side, means for securing the first end cart section and the second end cart section together such that open sides are in alignment and the first end cart section and the second end cart section together define an enclosed cart.
In a particular aspect of the invention, there is provided means associated with one of the cart section walls for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart, and at least one opening in at least one of the section walls sized to permit a head of an animal to at least partially extend therethrough.
In a further aspect of the present invention, in a hog farming operation having a plurality of sows, each sow being enclosed in an individual cage in a building, the cages being aligned and wherein the heads of all sow are aligned at one end of the cages, the improvement comprising a moveable cart having a base, the base having wheels mounted thereon, at least one wall extending upwardly from the base, which may further include means associated with the at least one wall for blocking visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of the cart, at least one opening in the at least one wall sized to permit a snout of a hog to at least partially extend therethrough, and drive means for driving the cart.
In a further aspect of the present invention, in a process of determining estrus in sow, each sow being enclosed in one of an aligned row of cages wherein the heads of all sows are aligned at one end of the cages, the improvement comprising the step of placing a male hog in a moveable cart, the cart having an opening in a side wall thereof, and moving the cart along the one end of the cages while permitting the male hog to have snout to snout contact with a sow.
In a further aspect of the present invention, in a process of artificial insemination of a sow wherein a plurality of sows are each enclosed in an individual cage, the cages being aligned, and wherein the heads of all sows are aligned at one end of the cages, the improvement comprising the step of placing a male hog in a moveable cart, the cart having an opening in a side wall thereof, and moving the cart along the one end of the cages, and permitting the male hog to have snout to snout contact with the sow during the step of artificial insemination.
The cart of the present invention may take several forms. The cart may be formed as a single unitary cart of a rectangular configuration although, in a preferred embodiment the cart is formed of at least two sections which are hingedly connected together. This arrangement is advantageous for movement in close quarters wherein the hinged connections allow for moving around a corner in a very short radius.
The cart is preferably motor driven although a hand pushed cart incorporating the features of the present invention could also be employed. The cart is preferably driven by an electric motor of a suitable voltage which in turn may be powered by a suitable non-explosive rechargeable battery. Alternatively, a 120 volt AC connection could be employed. Preferably, the cart is capable of being driven in both directions and even more preferably, is capable of being remotely controlled.
One of the advantageous features of the present invention is the provision of means to prevent the animal from lying down in the cage. Such means may conveniently comprise a member extending underneath the hog to prevent such occurrences. Such a member may extend either transversely or longitudinally of the cart.
Preferably, the cart includes means for limiting the vision from one end and one side thereof. Such an arrangement is advantageous in that the animal can then only focus along a single direction. Preferably, the panels are removable and may be placed on either side/end of the cart.
Similarly, the cart is designed to permit snout to snout contact between the male hog and the sow. To do so, the space between the bars may be sufficient to permit such snout to snout contact or in a preferred embodiment, a portion of the wall is designed with removable bars such that the access opening may be enlarged or diminished as appropriate.
The cart of the present invention may be provided with sound emitting means, imitating noises, grunting or vocal noises of an animal. The sound emitting means may be remotely controlled or activated when the cart is moving depending of needs.
The cart is made of suitable materials to preferably be resistant to corrosion and to ensure proper sanitation.
One particular arrangement of the cart calls for centrally mounted wheels which permits the shortest turning radius for the cart. Preferably, such wheels are pneumatic and the air pressure may be varied depending on the load. Thus, additional support wheels placed under unmotorized sections of the cart may be provided and the pneumatic wheels would have the pressure adjusted, depending upon the load, such that the cart is level.
In the improvement in the process of determining estrus, the cart may be moved past the heads of sows which are in aligned cages. At the same time, a worker placed at the rear of the sows can maneuver the cart and using conventional techniques, determine whether the sow is entering estrus. It has been found that permitting the snout to snout contact assists in the determining of estrus.
Similarly, during the process of artificial insemination, the maneuvering of the cart to each sow which is undergoing artificial insemination to permit snout to snout contact has been found to be extremely beneficial. It has been found that in so doing, success rates in artificial insemination have been as high as 95% compared to traditional figures of 85% or less.
Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a moveable cart suitable for transportation of animals, the moveable cart provided with wheels thereon and comprising a first end cart section and a second end cart section, said first end cart section including a first base section, a first end cart section wall extending upwardly from said first base section to define a first enclosure having an open end, said second end cart section having a second base section, a second end cart section wall extending upwardly from said second base section to define a second enclosure having one open side, means for securing said first end cart section and said end second cart section together such that open sides are in alignment and said first end cart section and said second end cart section together define an enclosed cart.
More particularly, the cart further includes means associated with one of said cart section walls for limiting visual access in at least one direction between the interior and exterior of said cart, and at least one opening in at least one of said section walls sized to permit a head of an animal to at least partially extend therethrough.
Specifically, the cart further includes at least one central cart section, said central cart section including a central base section, a central cart section wall extending upwardly from said central base section to define a central enclosure having two open ends, means for securing said central cart section with said end cart sections, or with other central cart section and an end section or with two central cart sections therebetween, such that open sides are in alignment and said first end cart section, said second end cart section and said at least one central cart section together define an enclosed cart.
Typically, said end sections each include at least one wall that comprises first and send opposed side walls and first and second opposed end walls, and means for securing said side walls and end walls together.
Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a process of artificial insemination for determining estrus in sows wherein a plurality of sows are each enclosed in an individual cage, said cages being aligned, where the heads of all sows are aligned at one end of said cages, the improvement comprising the step of placing a male hog in a cart, said cart being provided with wheels thereon and comprising a first end cart section and a second end cart section, said first end cart section including a first base section, a first end cart section wall extending upwardly from said first base section to define a first enclosure having an open end, said second end cart section having a second base section, a second end cart section wall extending upwardly from said second base section to define a second enclosure having one open side, means for securing said first end cart section and said end second cart section together such that open sides are in alignment and said first end cart section and said send end cart section together define an enclosed cart, and moving said cart along said one end of said cages while permitting said male hog a snout-to-snout contact with a sow.